We decided on a morning hike, pulled t-shirts over mismatched pajamas and fastened shoes that sat unworn for days.
Raindrops began tapping at leaves high above our heads as we headed down the drive.
Waiting for the first to touch our noses, we wondered about umbrellas or turning back.
Adventurous eyes barreled ahead in search of walking sticks with Daddy, broken to the perfect height for each.
He dulled the edges and handed them over to wows and that’s mines, little feet already leading our way as if they knew the path.
We counted flower colors and days of the week, marched and skipped and marched again. Picked up and carried and put back down to barter over different walking sticks, and found pine cones hidden in folded hands.
The lake peaked through every cottage, dimpled with rain.
Sandals tangled with leaves as walking sticks were abandoned for “next time” leaving hands free to hold just in time to head back inside.
We followed the latest designated “leader” up the cottage steps,
never feeling a single rain drop.
—————–
I could not be more honored to have been asked to share our story of finding gratitude after loss at SheKnows. Baby loss is often a subject few talk about and the fact that they allowed me to talk so openly and honestly makes me so proud to be a part of their writing team. I would love for you to stop over and read our story of how love and the little things have helped our family find true gratitude, even in the rain.
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I'm Jessica, 30-something mom to five, four in my arms and one in my heart.
Loved ‘hiking’ with you. Beautifully written as always.
Alison recently posted..I Am A Ruiner
Twitter: AlisonSWLee
Just beautiful, my friend.
Thank you for sharing your story with SheKnows.
I have no doubt that your story will help so many others.
Much love…
Twitter: NicholeBeaudry
Thank you for handing it with such care and for giving me the opportunity. Much love to you..
You write so beautifully.. i feel as though I was there..
hena tayeb recently posted..Ocean City, New Jersey
Twitter: henatayeb
The hike sounds wonderful! The picture is gorgeous!
Stacie recently posted..My Little Girl On Two Wheels….Yep It’s True!!
Thanks so much Stacie!
Truly gorgeous, Jessica. You always paint such a beautiful picture with your words. And I’m so glad the weather held for your walk that day
Charlotte recently posted..graduation
Twitter: MyPixieBlog
I love it that you even wrote about the debris getting caught up in your flip flops
Beautiful
Kimberly recently posted..Hair
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I feel like I was hiking with you. Just beautiful!
Barbara recently posted..Marseille
Twitter: babspinfrance
Beautifully written. Not a morning person, but I love early hikes with my kids.
Corey Feldman recently posted..July 6th today is still a 3 – Miss you mom
Twitter: coreyjf
I love the picture you painted, I feel like I was there.
Jen recently posted..How Married People Watch TV
I always feel that I am there with your family – or maybe that it’s my family and you are describing what we are doing. Your writing is like a window; we can see directly through and have a clear picture. My favorite line: “Picked up and carried and put back down to barter over different walking sticks, and found pine cones hidden in folded hands.”
Such lovely moments with small children. I don’t have any more hipsters – they all walk the whole time. Oh how I miss it.
Jessica recently posted..Summer Slowdown
Twitter: closeenoughblog
I don’t know what I am going to do when I don’t have any more hipsters. I was just thinking the other day how much I love holding my little 3 year old still.
Hi Jessica! It is great to meet you. And thanks for dropping by my yesterday….even though THAT Mark guilted you into it!! lol
I have tons of nieces and nephews and have seen the joys and the sorrows they give their parents. I look forward to your posts.
Jim
Jim recently posted..A Royal Visit
Thanks so much for stopping by to say hello Jim and Mark did not guilt me into it. He is such a great guy that I knew you would be too. Hope you had a great birthday!
Just gorgeous, of course!
angela recently posted..A Little Vacation
This is lovely. And the SheKnows essay? Wow.
Jenni & Andy recently posted..A Little Liberty
A perfect summer day. Sometimes, you need a little rain.
anymommy recently posted..Three
Jessica, this was beautiful. I just read “Hadley’s story”. I DO NOT KNOW how it has been this long and I’ve never read it. My face is soaked. Soaked. I cannot even imagine. I know you miss her terribly every day. I work part-time at a cancer hospital right now. I’m working with a 14-month-old with a brain tumor. This baby is the only child of his parents. His parents tried for 7 1/2 years to have him and it is very, very, very likely this baby will not survive. My heart is crushed. This whole week they’ve been on my mind. It is incredibly sad. It is terrible that beautiful people like you and those parents have to deal with anything has horrific as this- that anyone would have to… Thanks for sharing your perspective with us. And your Hadley…and your other beautiful kids.
Kelley recently posted..Embarrassing Stories That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud. Promise.
Twitter: KelleysBreakRm
I was just reading about your job and thinking about how incredibly difficult it must be to do what you do everyday. So glad that family has someone like you to support them. I can’t imagine losing my only child, my kids are truly what help me get out of bed every day.
Your writing is pure poetry.
And in case I haven’t mentioned it in the past week, I love poetry.
XO
julie gardner recently posted..Today call me monstrous
Aww, thank you Julie. xo
Reading this post makes me miss the gentle rain drops and the calm and refreshing ambiance whenever the rain visits the place. I really love your blog. I should keep coming back for blog updates. It makes me learn and realize a lot of things particularly about life.